CharacterCharacterizationizationBringing characters to life

Characterization

Definition: the process of conveying information about characters in fiction – their character traits.

What can readers learn through characterization?

Character Traits

• When you first meet a real person or a character in a book, you form judgments about that person.

• You might say something about the person such as “He’s nice,” or “She’s friendly.”

• “Nice” and “friendly” are examples of character traits. They are words that we use to describe a person’s “character” or personality.

Analyzing Character Traits

• We try to figure out what a character in a book is like by paying attention to the clues the author gives us.

• This is called “making inferences.”• The writer can let us know what a character

is like through direct and indirect characterization.

How are character traits presented?

Two Types of Characterization

Direct Characterization• the writer makes direct

statements about a character’s personality and tells what the character is like.

• Think adjectives.

Indirect Characterization• the writer reveals information

about a character and his/her personality through that character’s thoughts, words, and actions, along with how other characters respond to that character, including what they think and say about him/her.

• Think verbs.

Examples of Characterization

Direct Characterization• Gary is a nice and caring person.

• Gary can sometimes be very mean or rude.

Indirect Characterization• Gary watched his little brother

for two hours while their mother was ill, taking care of his every need. He did this without being asked and he did not ask for anything in return.

• “The next thing I know, Gary was tearing up my rose garden,” said Beatrice his elderly grandmother as she gave her statement to the police. She was still badly shaken after the attack.

Direct Characterization

Narrator explicitly describes a character.

-clearly stated

Ex: Kat was popular but snobby.Tim was a nice, honest boy.

Indirect Characterization

• In indirect characterization the writer shows you what the character is like by revealing:– appearance– actions– words– thoughts & feelings and the – reactions of other characters.

Indirect Characterization

Character traits reveled through actions

Indirect characterizations are implicit. -not clearly stated, implied.

Ex: Jess left the pizza crust on her floor.Tim helped old Ms. Jones with her bags.

What kind of person is Liz?What kind of person is Liz?

My friend Liz is a true best friend. She always supports me in everything I want to do. When I wanted to go up North, she said she thought it would be a great experience and that it would help me develop my sense of adventure. Liz is not only a great supporter. She also trusts me to give her my honest opinion and to say what I feel. When she was upset with her sister one time, she asked what I thought about it and I said she should wait and then she would find out the real reason why her sister was mad at her. And it happened that way. She knew she could trust me.